Hiring Cops: Keep the Bar High!

Police agencies lower education standards as staffing shortages persist

“More police agencies, from big-city departments to federal agencies, are lowering education standards for new recruits — a sign of how much the profession is changing as it struggles to recruit and retain officers. In February, the NYPD reduced its college credit requirement for police academy entry from 60 credits to 24. Following a new policy approval in June, the Dallas Police Department began allowing applicants with only a high school diploma or GED to qualify if they also have three consecutive years of full-time work experience. The changes in New York City and Dallas are part of a yearslong trend of police departments easing college requirements, a shift that includes Boise, Idaho; Chicago; Louisville, Kentucky; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Memphis, Tennessee; and Bellingham, Washington. Even some state police agencies, such as the Kentucky State Police and the Pennsylvania State Police, have followed suit” — PERF Daily Clips, Sept. 4, 2025.

Why Police Need a Four-Year College Degree

Across the country, agencies are loosening hiring standards—most visibly by cutting college requirements—in a scramble to fill vacancies. New York City lowered its threshold from 60 to 24 credits; Dallas recently dropped its college-credit rule altogether; even smaller departments are following suit. The short-term numbers game may boost academy seats, but it is bad public policy that will cost communities in legitimacy, lawsuits, and lives. 

Research has been remarkably consistent for decades: officers with more education draw fewer complaints and use force less often. A national analysis linked higher education requirements and stronger screening/training with fewer use-of-force complaints. Other studies find officers without a four-year degree receive more formal misconduct complaints, while college-educated officers are less likely to use force in citizen encounters. Professional associations have reached the same conclusion: agencies that require higher education see lower complaint rates. This isn’t theory—it’s outcomes. (See: cjcj.orgOffice of Justice ProgramsResearchGatePolice Chief Magazine.)

In Arrested Development, I argued that anti-intellectualism and reflexive reliance on force cripple policing. Departments that shy away from higher education also shy away from the critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and cultural competence a democracy demands of its guardians. My experience in Burnsville and Madison—plus years of tracking the data—taught me a simple truth I’ve repeated on my blog: if we want trusted, constitutional policing, we must hire and promote educated cops. A four-year degree at entry is a strong, clear signal of that commitment. (See: improvingpolice.blog+3improvingpolice.blog+3improvingpolice.blog+3.)

The common objection is recruitment: “We can’t find enough degree-holders.” But the answer to a talent shortage is not to redefine talent. It’s to compete for it—through better pay, paid degree pipelines, tuition support, and conditional employment offers to juniors/seniors in criminal justice, social science, data science, and languages. Keep the standard and build a bridge to it.

Policing is complex, discretionary work performed under intense scrutiny. We entrust officers with extraordinary powers over life, liberty, and community peace. Lowering the bar to put more bodies in uniforms is a false economy. The real “staffing crisis” is the erosion of public confidence that follows preventable misconduct and excessive force.

The way out is the same as it was when I first wrote about “college cops”: hire for judgment, educate for wisdom, train for restraint—and insist on a bachelor’s degree at the door.